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A Cross-Border Exploration Of The Professional Development Needs Of Heads Of Year, Patricia Mannix Mcnamara Dr., Eva Devaney, Tom Geary, Caryl Sibbett Dr., Willie Thompson

Dr. Patricia Mannix McNamara

Pastoral work in schools is about meeting student needs. However in the context of an increasingly changing society, students’ needs are also rapidly changing. The expectation that schools should assume more responsibility for mental health promotion, coupled with an increase in poor mental health and distress among young people, have placed increased pressures on parents and schools (Shucksmith et al. 2005). In schools it is often the pastoral care team, and in particular the year heads, who have to deal with situations that they often feel unprepared for (Wilson et al. 2004, Rothi et al. 2008). It is therefore important …